How Sony can turn failed Spider-Man spin-offs into box office gold

Given that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (or SSU) of villainous spinoff films is being put on hold to refocus on films that actually feature Spider-Man himself and are committed to top-notch storytelling To deliver, it’s worth thinking about how Sony might turn these canceled spinoffs into box office gold.

So far, SSU has failed to achieve the success or world-building that Sony hoped and intended. The reality of this situation became undeniable when Madame Webb flopped at the beginning of the year.

There are obvious reasons for the failures, which boil down to producing predominantly B or C films that seem to have no interest in what modern audiences even want or care about, and with no real plan or purpose to speak of other than the fact that that Sony wanted to do Spider-Man spinoffs that could fit together somehow.

The results are exactly what you’d expect, from the films themselves to their (mostly, with the exception of the first few). Poison Films) disappointments at the box office. Sony is now reportedly accepting this fact and making the difficult but necessary decision to move forward.

However, this didn’t have to be the case and may not be the case if Sony plans to revive the SSU in the future. Here are some ideas that I think represent what Sony could have done – and may one day still do – to save the SSU and its associated plans…

Spider-Man Villains Battle Royale

How do you make one? Kraven: The Hunter movie without having him chase Venom, for example, if you insist on keeping Spider-Man out and also plan on crossing those films somehow? This felt like a no-brainer, with the potential to bring Kraven into the world Poison Movies earlier than someone who knows of Venom’s existence and plans to hunt the monster.

Sony could have had Kraven fight Venom until Kraven learns that he blames Venom for the murders that were actually caused by Morbius. So Kraven and Venom could team up to fight Morbius in the climax. This is just one example of the opportunities Sony had to help these properties reach their potential, even in the overly limited context of the SSU plans.

Unfortunately, these opportunities are now lost. Or is it?

One option – and it’s not the best, but still much better than what has happened to SSU so far – is to address these oversights by letting the dust settle and moving forward as planned (and as always should be). the Spider-Man films focus on being the predominant decision if and when a decision needs to be made about it). Then, if the potential arises, make one last big, all-villain fighting film in a few years.

Imagine Kraven comes to New York to hunt Venom, realizes that Venom is innocent, and the two team up against an increasingly vampiric Morbius, and the fight draws the intervention of Madame Web and her team of spider-women .

Ignore any continuity issues, just like Fox is excellent X Men Franchises have done it, and they just use what works best and do it well enough that viewers don’t care. And Madame Web and the Spider-Women would have had to have aged in future appearances anyway if the planned shoehorn fit into the MCU Spider-Man Continuity had advanced.

I suspect that a major crossover film of this nature with Venom and a team of costumed Spider-Women and a budget in the $120 million range would have the best potential of any SSU film to recoup some losses. Release the film on July 4th or Memorial Day, if the film’s story and marketing are based around the holiday, and there’s a good chance of hitting numbers close to the former Poison if the film is good enough.

The lesson here is: go big or go home. SSU kept holding back and building up instead of firing their shot.

Amazing Spider-Man return?

The previous example is just one and remains firmly in SSU’s own limited backyard. But in reality, there are better ways to not just save the situation, but actually fix it and turn it into something worthwhile that audiences will want more of.

I think the easiest and best answer is to bring Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man back for a while Sinister Six Typical film that contains most of these SSU villains and all the villains from the pre-MCU Spider-Man films (Spider-Man, Spider Man 2, Spider Man 3, The Amazing Spider-ManAnd The Amazing Spider-Man 2) together.

It’s a similar setup to the Battle Royale example I explained above, except that the villains from different universes are brought together by a mysterious character who has technology to travel the multiverse. They then set out to find Garfield’s Spider-Man (who is emotionally healed after returning to his own universe).Spider-Man: No Way Home) and ambush him one by one.

This accomplishes a lot: all the villains are brought to one location, a mysterious villain needs to be solved, and the door is opened for Garfield’s Spider-Man to seek help from Tobey Maguire’s Spidey and from Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock in Maguire’s universe.

Doc Ock could start out as their apparent ally but return to his own universe No way home caused a short circuit in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man’s “solution” (different energy, remember? That was crucial for No way homeThe villain’s plot results in Ock being evil again – and now with Stark technology in his hands, including a mini-arc reactor he brought with him (a sign that, despite all the redemption, he is still guilty of the same hubris ), to reverse -Develop technology with the others and create gateways to the multiverse.

In this scenario, Ock could be revealed as the master planner from the famous comic book storyline, who turns against the Spider-Men in the final act after they are sufficiently weakened.

I also think there are about a dozen or more villains spread across the various live-action Spider-Man films (including Morbius, Venom, Vulture, Mysterio, Lizard, Electro, Rhino, Kraven, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Shocker, Scorpion and Sandman). ), this was intended to be a two-film story arc, with a group of Sinister Six villains being captured in the first film, only for them to be replaced by a new Sinister Six team in the second film.

Ock knows that Spider-Man is an “anchor” in the multiverse (remember that from Loki And Deadpool and Wolverine?), giving Spider-Man immense power and purpose, allowing Ock to capture Maguire’s Spider-Man Exchange your opinions with him. The film would end with Doc Ock succeeding and then sending everyone home to their universes. Part 2 set the stage for Garfield’s Spider-Man desperately thinking about how he could return to the multiverse and save Maguire’s Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Maguire’s mind is trapped in Ock’s body and goes insane as the AI ​​arms take control.

And voila, it is Scary Six, Master Plannerand Superior Spider-Man merged into a two-film arc that established an entirely new Spider-Man franchise for Sony.

This would give Sony the live-action multiverse team-up they’ve been craving (which led to Marvel changing its plans for a fourth MCU-based project). Spider-Man film, after a long debate with Sony). It would also allow Marvel to pursue what they think is best for the next MCU-based Fourth Spider-Man Movie, essentially free money for Sony since they can separate it from their SSU. It would successfully revitalize Sony Amazing Spider-Man Blockbuster-level franchise, with major sequels. And it would save SSU in the process, or at least give it a respectful and entertaining farewell.

In my opinion, this is the optimal plan. It makes the most of all of these characters, turning past failed performances into productions that can eventually attract more viewers, and these films can be included in box sets that are made more appetizing by the inclusion of a two-parter Spider-Man vs. Sinister Six Extravagance.

And if you really want to be bold, create a trilogy of two-part storylines – for starters Sinister Sixwhat sets up Master Plannerwhat sets up Superior Spider-Man. These films are obviously loose adaptations, as the MCU uses iconic titles and comic book arcs as a conceptual starting point and then creates something entirely new. Here each story builds on the next and each two-parter could be offered to a different directing team to speed up pre-production.

If they’ve brought in filmmakers already associated with these franchises, the obvious ones are Sam Raimi for one set of films, Marc Webb for another set, and Ruben Fleischer for another. Or seek out Patty Jenkins, Jeymes Samuel and Gina Prince-Bythewood. Lots of great options and routes for stories and creative teams.

Spider-Man: From the Spider-Verse

The third good way to revive the SSU at some point and make it something successful would be to take advantage of the popularity of the Spider-Verse to launch a live-action Miles Morales Spider-Man, giving the SSU its own new Spider-Man, which could later cross over into the MCU’s solo Spider-Man films. By simply going forward and saying that the SSU’s Spider-Man exists, but dies at the beginning of one Spider-Man vs. Sinister Six Movie, they can include Miles as a multiverse Spidey series in this movie.

I mean, if Sony and Marvel are making so much money like Multiverses and Spider-Man teams, why not add Miles to that mix and get even more potential out of it? And really, that’s the simplest approach, because it’s simply a matter of banding together all of these villains to fight Spider-Man and introducing a new Spider-Man with a huge fan base bolstered by the worldwide love for Spider-Man Spider-Verse Films.

This is meant to be an example of how easy it can be to see the potential that was so badly missed in the SSU, but also the potential that may be there when Sony probably turns back to the SSU and considers it there is still something to be saved. As critical as I was of some of SSU’s decisions, I was also excited about what Sony was doing right, and they did a lot of things right with Spidey.

Spider-Man is too big a property with far too much potential and too many fantastic stories for Sony to ignore the value of a property for long, regardless of how the SSU is put on hold for now. And if Sony is taking the time to go slow, think carefully and take full advantage to succeed.